2016 Kyoto 3rd district by-election
# 2016 Kyoto 3rd district by-election

A by-election for the Kyoto-3rd seat in the Japanese House of Representatives was held on 24 April 2016, coinciding with the by-election in Hokkaido. The seat became vacant after sitting member Kensuke Miyazaki resigned on 12 February 2016 in the midst of an extramarital affair scandal. Miyazaki, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, served the district from 2012. He defeated Democratic Party MP Kenta Izumi by slim margins in the 2012 (0.1%) and 2014 (2.7%) elections.

Izumi managed to wrest back his old seat by a landslide, eclipsing his nearest rival by 45 percentage points.

## Outline

The district had 344,696 registered voters for the election, an increase of 0.12% since the 2014 general election. As the voting age for national elections was decreased to 18 years in June 2016, this by-election, along with the Hokkaido by-election, were the last national-level election with a minimum voting age of 20 years. The by-elections were the first national-level elections contested by the Democratic Party, Initiatives from Osaka party and Party for Japanese Kokoro under their respective current names. The Communist Party also chose not to field a candidate in the election, despite receiving 27,000 votes (16%) in the 2014 election.

## Dates

* 16 March 2016 - Date of election announced
* 12 April 2016 - List of candidates published
* 13–23 April - Early-voting polling booths open
* 24 April 2016 - Polling day

## Candidates

The by-election was a six-way race. The LDP decided against fielding a candidate due to the perceived anti-LDP sentiment in light of the Miyazaki scandal. Party bosses were also worried that a heavy defeat in Kyoto might affect LDP's campaign for the House of Councillors election in summer.

Candidates :

| Party for Japanese Kokoro | Yukiko Ono | Endorsed by the New Renaissance Party |
| - | - | - |
| Independent | Masafumi Tabuchi | |
| Happiness Realization Party | Mitsuko Ōyagi | |
| Initiatives from Osaka | Natsue Mori | |
| Democratic | Kenta Izumi | Endorsed by the Social Democratic Party. Representative of the district for three terms (2003-2012). Lost the district in 2012 and 2014 but remained in the House via the Kinki PR block. |
| Independent | Akihiro Kōri | |

## Results

House of Representatives: Kyoto 3rd district by-election, 2016 :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Democratic | Kenta Izumi | 65,051 | 65.42 | $32.3^1$ |
| | Innovation | Natsue Mori | 20,710 | 20.83 | $5.8^2$ |
| | Japanese Kokoro | Yukiko Ono | 6,449 | 6.49 | N/A |
| | Independent | Masafumi Tabuchi | 4,599 | 4.63 | N/A |
| | Happiness Realization | Mitsuko Ōyagi | 2,247 | 2.26 | N/A |
| | Independent | Akihiko Kōri | 370 | 0.37 | N/A |
| Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | 4,224 | 4.08 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 44,341 | 44.59 | 42.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 103,650 | 30.12 | |
| | Democratic gain from Liberal Democratic | Democratic gain from Liberal Democratic | Swing | N/A | |

Note: $^1$ The percentage swing for the Democratic Party candidate is calculated based on the vote share obtained by its predecessor, DPJ. $^2$ The percentage swing for the Initiatives from Osaka candidate is calculated based on the vote share obtained by its predecessor, Japan Innovation Party.

